In 1989, the group had recorded a handful of demo tapes, which appeared on the 1995 bootleg release Early 1989 Demos. They released their first record, a limited edition single called "I Am One" in 1990 on local Chicago label Limited Potential. The single sold out and they released another single, "Tristessa" on Sub Pop Records, after which they signed to Virgin Records. To give them indie credibility, Virgin matched the band with Sonic Youth producer Butch Vig and recorded their 1991 debut album Gish in his own studio, Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin. They released the album on Virgin subsidiary label Caroline Records. Although the album is often associated with silent film actress Lillian Gish, Corgan has said that the record was not named for her. The music fused heavy metal guitars, psychedelia and dream pop. The album became a minor success. During the Gish tour, Iha and Wretzky went through a messy breakup, Chamberlin became addicted to narcotics and alcohol and Corgan entered a deep depression, writing some songs for the upcoming album in the parking garage where he lived at the time.
To counteract his depression, Corgan worked overtime, saying he practically lived in the studio for the 1993 follow up album, Siamese Dream. Contemporary music press portrayed Corgan as somewhat of a tyrant during the recording sessions, with rumors circulating that he had recorded all the guitar and bass parts himself, claims which band members say were greatly exaggerated. It was never confirmed exactly how much each member participated on the album, although Billy did say he performed a majority of the guitar work, but only because he wrote the songs. The production on "Siamese Dream" is considered by many to have reached very elaborate heights - Corgan said the song "Soma" alone contains up to 40 overdubbed guitar parts. Experimentation with processing guitars through various effects is also evident throughout the album.
A bad case of writer's block came upon Corgan before recording and he feared he might not be able to finish an entire album's worth of songs. His writer's block is the subject of the song "Hummer".
The album was recorded at Triclops Sound Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, mostly between December 1992 and March 1993, with Butch Vig reprising his role as producer; the band lived in Marietta during the Siamese Dream recording sessions. The decision to record so far away from their hometown was motivated partially to keep away from local friends and distractions during the recording, but largely as a desperate attempt to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. In this respect, the strategy failed miserably, as Chamberlin quickly managed to find new connections and often was absent without any contact for days at a time; he was once randomly discovered as far away as Athens, Georgia.
Corgan went on record saying if the record didn't sell well, the band would break up. Siamese Dream sold four million copies in the US, and the videos for the songs "Today" and "Disarm" garnered the Pumpkins international attention through heavy rotation on MTV. The album is generally considered to be the band's finest work.
In 1994, Virgin released a B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot and a concert video Vieuphoria. A CD version of Vieuphoria, entitled Earphoria was released to radio stations only. In 2002, Vieuphoria (on DVD) and Earphoria were released to the public.
Following relentless touring to support the recordings, the band took time off to write the follow up album. Corgan worked non-stop over the next year and wrote, according to statements in interviews, about 56 songs for the next album. Following this spell of concentrated creativity, the Pumpkins went back into the studio with producers Flood and Alan Moulder to work on what Corgan described as "The Wall of the '90s," a comparison with Pink Floyd's famous double concept album.
The result was Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, a double-disc (triple on vinyl) album release featuring 28 songs and lasting over 2 hours. While the idea of an overriding concept was dropped somewhere along the way, (although many would argue that the arrangement of the tracks on the album depicts the story of a disenchanted youngster going through the motions; hence, the argument made that it is a concept album) Mellon Collie became even more successful than Siamese Dream, selling over sixteen million copies worldwide. It also garnered seven 1996 Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year. Its hit songs included "Bullet with Butterfly Wings", "Tonight, Tonight," "1979" and "Zero." Many of the remaining songs that, for one reason or another, did not make it onto Mellon Collie were released as B-sides to the singles, eventually compiled in the now out-of-print The Aeroplane Flies High box set.
In May 1996, the Smashing Pumpkins played a gig at The Point Depot in Dublin, Ireland. The venue was over-crowded and despite the band's repeated requests for moshing to stop, a 17-year-old fan from Cork, Bernadette O'Brien, was crushed to death. The concert ended early and the following night's performance in Belfast was cancelled out of respect for her. Corgan later said that he considered quitting show business for good after the event.
The band's fortunes changed significantly on July 12, 1996, when touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin and Chamberlin overdosed on heroin in a hotel room in New York City. Melvoin died, and Chamberlin was arrested for drug possession. Chamberlin was subsequently fired from the band (though later rehired).
Though the band finished the tour with another drummer and keyboardist, their profile had taken a marked downturn. Billy Corgan became something of a hate figure amongst the hard rock press following a statement in which he declared rock to be dead. He stated that Mellon Collie would be the last Pumpkins record of that type, and that rock was, for himself at least, becoming stale due to a lack of experimentation.
Recorded following the death of Corgan's mother, 1998's Adore represented a significant change of style from the Pumpkins' previous guitar based rock, veering into electronica, trimming much of the guitar-driven sonic underpinnings and infused with a slightly darker aesthetic. The record was cut using drum machines and was distinctly experimental in the vein of post-punk bands such as Depeche Mode, New Order, and The Cure (all of whom Corgan enjoyed in his youth). Corgan also modified his public image, shedding his alternative hipster look for a dark Gothic persona. In a rare interview on a Tokyo radio station, Corgan stated that his favorite song on the album was "Blank Page". Although Adore received quite favorable reviews and was nominated for Best Alternative Performance at the Grammys, the album sold only 3 million copies. In hindsight, Billy realized that Adore suffered from the absence of Jimmy, whom he considered his most important influence (and best friend) when it came to shaping each song during rehearsals; not to mention Jimmy's incredibly complex and jazzy drumming that no drum machine could reproduce. All in all, Adore was too much of a muted effort for many fans; the lukewarm reception was one factor contributing to their now dwindling audience.
The return of a rehabilitated Jimmy Chamberlin for 2000's MACHINA/The Machines of God signaled a return to a more familiar Pumpkins sound, but failed to widely connect with fans. MACHINA also brought Corgan's desire to write a concept album to fruition.
The band's lineup changed again at this point. Bass player Wretzky departed after the recording of MACHINA/The Machines of God, and former Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur was recruited for the "Sacred and Profane" tour in support of the album. Auf der Maur also appeared in the videos accompanying the album.
MACHINA was initially promoted as the Pumpkins' return to form, after the more gothic, electronic-sounding Adore; however, on its release, many reviewers and fans took issue with the album's "Wall of Sound" production, finding that what was intended to have been a reappearance of the band's signature rock sound had been overprocessed — in particular, stripping away the warmth and nuance for which Iha's and Corgan's guitar work had become known. In addition, many longtime fans became disenchanted with the conceptual nature of the album and with its mystical and spiritual themes which Corgan in particular had begun to promulgate.
On May 23, 2000 in a live radio interview on KROQ (Los Angeles), Billy Corgan announced the band's decision to break up at the end of that year following additional touring and recording. In a first for an established band, the group's final album, MACHINA II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music, was released in September 2000 in a limited pressing on vinyl with permission and instructions for free redistribution on the Internet by fans. Only 25 copies were cut, each of which was hand numbered and given to friends of the band along with band members themselves. The album contained 1 LP and 3 EP's released under the Constantinople Records label, created by Corgan. This is the only Smashing Pumpkins album released that is not under the Virgin Records label. The reason for this decision was that Virgin refused Corgan's request to release a final double album, citing poor sales figures for the last two albums. This, combined with the fact that the band was on the verge of breaking up, and would therefore not perform the kind of extended tour necessary to properly promote a double album, lead Virgin to feel that the double album would simply be a loss on their part.
On August 5, 2005 the Q101 copy (#19) was put up for sale on eBay. The seller decided to end the auction four days early when the bidding had reached $10,000 from a bidder in France. This bidder has since disclosed that there was a mutual agreement after the auction was ended to cancel the sale transaction. It remains to be seen if this copy (or any other) will go up for sale again publicly in the near future, but the episode suggests that an original vinyl copy could fetch a five-figure sum.
On December 2, 2000, the Smashing Pumpkins played their final concert at The Metro, the same Chicago club where their career had effectively started twelve years earlier. The Smashing Pumpkins' final commercial recording was a single, "Untitled" released to coincide with the final show. A DVD of the 4 hour concert (3 main sets and 4 encores in total) is rumored to be released in the future.
--Wikipedia
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